Beautiful Surprise
by TheMusicKnows
Summary: I'm Back! With a Danny and Alice Story. Not sure of a summary for it yet, but please read. It would make my day
1. Chapter 1

Beautiful Surprise

This Story is inspired by the song from "Strictly Ballroom: The Musical" and I absolutely adored it (thought it is expected by a music fanatic like myself.) And I wanted to write a Strictly Ballroom story but I am not sure if I should or not. Thoughts? If I did would you read it? Maybe I will just write it anyway, if it helps me get my muse back, which to an extent it already has.

This is kinda sorta AU in its own way.

Anyway here are some of the beautiful lyrics from the Chorus' sung but the main characters:

(Also DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of Wild at Heart, nor do I own Beautiful Surprise, Baz Luhrmann does.)

Fran:

"What a beautiful surprise,

My reflection in your eyes,

The thing we feel,

When it disappears,

Are the wings that make us fly,

I saw perfection in my reflection in your eyes."

Scott:

"What a beautiful surprise,

My reflection in your eyes,

If you could only see,

What you've given me,

Are the wings to make me fly,

I see perfection in my reflection in your eyes."

Anyway if you want to give it a listen then if you go the the website of the musical you can find it there. The Lyrics are as close as I can get them by listening to the song.

[x]

He looked at her. She looked at him. From an outside perspective it would have looked like this beautiful romantic situation, staring into one another's eyes. Everything being perfect, as they silently conveyed their love for each other.

That was partially true. They were indeed lovers staring into each others eyes. But something just wasn't quite right at the moment. Since Dup's death there seemed to be some unresolved tension in their relationship. And it had continued like that for a few months now and was really beginning to get out of hand. They were staring at each other, but the silent communication was totally absent from the glances that they had cast in the others direction.

Danny resisted the urge to smile. He so desperately wanted to walk over there, brush Alice's growing fringe from over her eyes and tell her that she was the most beautiful person he had met, (besides his late wives and daughters of course) but something was stopping him.

He wasn't quite sure what, or why he was resisting his urge. They had resolved their problems when Dup had so masterfully fixed all the problems in the family.

But since then it hadn't quite been the same.

Alice looked back at Danny, noticing the emptiness in both of their eyes. She wondered why he hadn't come over to her, she wondered why she hadn't gone over to him herself. She rationalised with herself that he needed to come to her, to show her that he loved her like he used to. But really in her heart she knew that she should do that as well, after all, they were equals in this relationship.

Just as Alice was summoning the will to take a step towards him a shriek broke their gaze. "Mum!" their teenaged daughter cried. It was an unusual occurrence for Charlie to scream out her Mothers name, which instantly alerted both her parents that something might in fact be wrong. Alice turned for the door and ran toward the direction of the scream, followed closely by Danny.

When they arrive together at their daughters side and Alice couldn't help a small laugh escape her lips.

"It isn't funny Mum." Charlie screamed again. But her Mother thought quite the opposite. Only a few weeks ago, an orphaned lion cub was surrendered to the vets at Leopards Den, and given to Charlie to raise. As the young cub got bigger and rougher Charlie had sustained a few small scratches, but nothing to major.

Until today that is. Before Alice and Danny was their daughter's hair clamped tightly shut in the mouth of the lion cub. "I'm sorry Charlie, but isn't t it just a little bit funny?" Alice questioned, only to receive a nasty glare from Charlie.

"Maybe it will be tomorrow, but right now just get him off me," she said, before adding "and if you can do it soon it would be good."

"Ok, Danny give me a hand." Alice said as he turned to her husband, but was dismayed to see that after only a few moments he had turned his back and began walking away. Alice fought back the urge to say something rude in front of their daughter, instead just moving towards the cub, and carefully prying Charlie's hair from his strong grip.

Once she was free from the jaws of her attacker, Charlie stood up to face her Mum. "Are you and Danny alright?" She asked. She and her Mother had always been good friends, for a long time it had been just the two of them. Their bond was incredible. And it still was.

Alice smiled at her daughter, noting that she called him Danny. She tended to switch between the two, depending on how she felt. "Things are just a little bit rough at the moment, but it isn't anything for you to worry about. Everything is going to be ok." Alice had to be brave in front of her daughter. She couldn't let her really know that she felt like there was no passion left in the relationship that that she and Danny hadn't felt any kind of connection in a few months.

But Charlie knew her Mum. "Come on Mum, you can trust me. I can tell that things are not great."

Alice sighed and nodded, for she didn't know how to answer. That was one thing that was interesting about her daughter. She could always spot a fake smile or a lie. Which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes not.

"Mum, you know you can always tell me anything, anything at all. Though maybe there are somethings I don't want to know about. But that's off topic. Anything you want, absolutely almost anything you can tell me. I'm on your side. We are a team remember. We always have been. Right since the beginning. It's just that there are a few more players now." Charlie said, and smiled when she saw a little smile on her Mum's face.

"I cannot believe the young lady you are turning into." Alice said as she embraced her daughter into a warm hug.

Charlie smiled, and then pulled herself away from her Mum. "So, if you want to talk, just let me know. Whenever. Ok?" Alice nodded.

"Thanks, maybe later?" She said to her daughter.

"Well, then I am going to go find that monstrous cub. Actually I think we should call him Monster." Charlie said. Nodding to herself. Monster was definitely the right name for that little guy.

Alice stood and watched her daughter walk away. She was really turning into a young lady that Alice was very proud of. When Charlie had completely disappeared from her vision, Alice walked in the direction of the Vet Clinic as it was her day to work today.

[x]

When Charlie was around the corner, and had located Monster she sat picked him up and walked in the direction of his pen, so that she could have a few moments to think. She had to do something to fix the relationship between her parents. It couldn't go on the way it was, because she would end up in England again, when she wanted to be in South Africa. And that was not allowed to happen.

When Monster was away Charlie walked up to the house to sit on her favourite bench to think about how she was fix her parents.

It wasn't like she could just say kiss and makeup. Though she had seen it work with Rosie and Max before when she first came to Leopards Den. But that was Rosie and Max, they were younger and hadn't been married long. But they had lost a baby. Somehow though she knew that this wasn't going to work. She sat there for a while until she remembered her Mum telling her something about the magic of staring into Danny's eyes and just seeing her reflection in there, and just feeling his love, without even needing to say anything.

That was it. She just had to get them to look at each other in the same way they used to. But that kind of thing was easier said than done. Everything would have to be carefully planned. There was not much time and she wanted to get it right on the first shot.

For the thousandth time since he had died, Charlie wished that Dup was here. He would know how to do this kind of thing. Being the cunning one was his role in the family, and he had been teaching her his ways, but she wasn't ready to do it on her own. After all, it was Dup who facilitated her parents getting together in the first place. And thats when it hit her. Alice had told her the story of how they got together in the first place.

It had started when the Storm hit and her parents had bravely gone out into the rain to release the giraffe who had been in a quarantine pen, waiting for a proper release. But the rain meant that he had to be released early. On the way home they had crashed into a tree and that is when Alice first kissed Danny. Then after a few other events, Danny had followed her to The Copy where they had actually kissed properly for the first time. They always spoke of how it was so romantic and was one of her favourite spots to visit on the whole reserve, but once she had shown Charlotte where they had crashed.

Charlie wondered, maybe if she could figure out where that was, take Danny there and get him to realise that everything that happened with Alice and that chain of events actually started there. She wondered.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Thanks for reading the last chapter, I really appreciate it, especially after such a long time.

Charlie felt like she had been wandering aimlessly. The next day she had gone to school but she could not keep her mind off the plan she was forming in her head to get her parents to realise just how stupid they had been. She had tried to figure it all out but soon realised that she was going to get into trouble if she didn't do her work and that would just set her parents on her case and then she would be back at base one thinking of a new plan.

So with all the concentration she could muster she worked especially hard to keep her mind off her plan forming in her head, that is at least until she could think about it without jeopardising her chances of carrying out the plan.

When school finally finished she had rushed home, grabbed a radio, water and a gun (for she was now old enough in her parents eyes to take one, just in case an emergency in the bus should arise) and set out in the general direction of where she thought she would find the location of the first time her Mum kissed her Dad.

And so she wandered around for what felt like forever. But everything changed almost on a daily basis in the bush and it was completely different to the last time she had been in this area of the bush.

However there was one thing that would never change and that is the favourite spot of her favourite animal, the giraffe. They could almost always be found at The Copy, and were an iconic part of the "getting together" story of her parents. Perhaps, she should head towards The Copy and try and find the spot she was looking for there.

She tried to remember the story her parents told her of that night all those years ago. She shuddered she remembered her own experiences of that night. She had left the house in search of Domino and had been trapped under mud after the hut collapsed under her. She had cried for a while, but then tried to be brave. Someone would come for her. Her Mum would come for her. She had promised she would always be there for her. But she hadn't been. It was her Uncle who had saved her from the rubble. And her Mum was still out in the storm.

Years later they had discussed what happened on that night. The fears that they had both experienced when they were trapped in their own ways. That was when Alice had shown Charlotte the place. They had walked to The Copy together and had walked from the Copy along the same route that they had driven on that stormy night.

Charlie tried to find the memory when she finally arrived at her parents favourite place. She had been shown where the giraffe had been and the direction he walked. As she sat pondering on the giraffe she remembered that he had in fact been there when Danny had been found in a clearing not far from The Copy, and not far from the Jeep. Charlie smiled. That at least was the general direction for her to go, even if she hadn't really found the exact spot she was looking for.

As she walked she enjoyed the scenery and paid close attention the the small details around her as she tried to figure out exactly where the fateful event had happened.

After a while she sighed, realising that she didn't have a single clue as to the whereabouts of the location of the first kiss between her parents. She had found the clearing and The Copy, but had not found the spot in between.

Unsure of what to do she tree stump to sit on and breathed an outward sigh. Perhaps it was time get Danny to come and get her. Then maybe she could speak to him on the ride home about the story and come back another day to find the spot.

'Hello, Leopards Den?' Charlie called into the radio. Waiting for someone on the other side to pick up.

After a minute or so Caroline answered from the other end 'Charlie, are you alright?' She asked and Charlie could hear the worry in her voice. Since Dup died she hadn't quite been the same. She worried more about everything, and worried whenever someone from in the bush used the radio. But Charlie understood that she had seen a lot of heart ache and tragedy in her life, so therefore understood the concern in her voice.

'I'm fine, but I wanted Danny to come get me from the clearing by The Copy. I came out on a walk and I'm to tired to walk all the way home.'

'Are you sure you don't want me to come and get you. I think Danny is a little bit busy at the moment.' Caroline said, Charlie quickly thinking of something to say so as to not offend her.

'No, it's alright. It kind of needs to be Danny.' Charlie said, and heard just a faint giggle on the other end of the radio. 'Are you laughing?' She asked, a smirk coming across her face.

'Yes.' was all Caroline offered.

'Well, Why?' Charlie asked, now thoroughly confused by the way this situation was turning out.'

'Because you are being devious like Dup. But something you need to remember is that for him things never turned out quite right. So just be careful. Ok.'

Charlie smiled. She was right after all. There was always one detail that Dup had over looked when he whipped up his "masterful" plans.

'I will get Danny to come out as soon as he can. But radio again if you really need to come home and I will come and get you.' Caroline spoke again, and then ending the conversation that was being had via radio. For she had to go and pry Danny for his work so that Charlie could carry out her plan, which would hopefully end up better than Dup's always did. But Caroline had her doubts. After all, Dup was the one who taught her to be devious in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Not particularly happy with this, but I wanted to get it up.

Danny sighed as he drove though the bush. Why did his daughter have to be so difficult sometimes. She knew he was busy yet she insisted that he get her from her little bush adventure, rather than her Mother, or Caroline, both of whom could have done it better than the he could.

Not only was it difficult for him to get her, she was at The Copy, and Danny knew exactly where this was going. Charlie had been so much simpler when she was a child. She had always enjoyed being mostly in her own world, but now that she had entered the teenaged year she had become a lot more aware of what was going on around her.

And she was at The Copy. Well not at The Copy exactly, but by it. And that could only mean one thing. After being best friends with Dup for so many years he could smell something fishy when it arose and Charlie had been learning his ways. Just like all his other children had before her. But Charlie was different to his three older children. Though she was like Evan and Liv in a sense that none of them were his biological children, she was different as she had never gone through what Danny liked to call "The Terrible Teenage Stage." He grimaced as he thought of Rosie when the first moved to Africa. She had certainly been a handful and took a while to settle into their new environment, and warm up to Sarah. He wasn't sure which one had been worse, for they were both ridiculous, and Rosie made a huge fuss out of both of them, certainly bigger than what was required.

Then there was Evan. And though he never exactly did anything wrong he was known to have quite a temper. He would fly between happy and furious, without a single word of warning. He was stubborn. Like his Mother. But also like his Father. Both of his parents taught him well. Danny smiled at the thought of Sarah's stubbornness. She had certainly put up a fight sometimes and held her ground for an extended period of time. Usually in the end it was Danny that would buckle.

Then there was Liv. She still lived locally in the area, but didn't live at Leopards Den any more. She had been a serious competitor for Rosie in those wonderful terrible teens. She had done to Alice what Rosie had done to her Mother. He remembered Liv asking Rosie once why she was mean to her Mum. Danny had never thought that one day she would do it to someone else Mum. These days however Alice and Liv were the best of friends. It just took her a bit of time to get used to the thought of Danny being married to someone else. And he understood that for no child should have to endure what three of his did.

But Charlie had been somewhat different to the others, though her circumstances differed entirely, Danny put it down to her different personalities that lead to a different response to situations.

[x]

Charlie sat on a rock with a stick in her hand playing naughts and crosses in the dust. She hadn't anticipated that Danny would take this long to get to her, but the wait was worth it. Hopefully. The intention was to try and make him see that he still loved her Mum and that what they were doing was silly. However she wasn't sure how she was going to go about doing that. As she sat there thinking as time went by she heard the faint sound of a jeep off in the distance. She knew that Danny was coming for her so she assumed it would be him, however she had not expected him to come to her so fast. On the other hand it was getting closer and closer to sun down and her parents would freak out if she was out in the bush all alone. Let alone her freaking out.

Charlie rose to her feet and walked towards the sound of the Jeep.

When the sight of the Jeep became visible of the peak of a small hill she smiled to see that it was in fact Danny in the Jeep. Now all she had to do was convince him that her parents needed to reconcile.

After what felt like an eternity the Jeep finally pulled up beside her, but she didn't move to get in. Danny looked at her. She looked at him and after a short period of time he asked 'So why are you not getting in?' He asked.

'Because I want to talk to you first.' She said. She knew he could be stubborn, but she was not going to give up.

'Charlie, Come on. I don't have time for these kinds of games today.' He said. She detected a small hint of annoyance in his voice. The trick was to know where the line was and not cross it. She was going to have to be fast because she didn't have long.

'I want you to tell me the story of what happened here first.' She said.

Her Dad grimaced. 'Charlotte you know exactly what happened here. This is where your Mum and I had our first kiss.' He said. He knew exactly what she was going to try and do to him while he was out here, but the direction she had chosen to take was confusing him. Maybe she was better at this than he had initially thought. And that scared him.

'But is it Danny?' She asked, going out on a limb, hoping that this would work.

'Yes. You know how the story goes, you have heard it enough before. This is where I first…' He never finished his sentence. The realisation had come to him, though he didn't fully understand it yet. She had outsmarted him. She had gotten him where he didn't expect it.

'Why did you stop?' Charlie asked, as she tried to suppress the grin which tried to leak onto her face. She knew she had scored a point. Now it was time to try and sneak a goal. But she had no idea how. This part was definitely going to be interesting.

'Because you don't want to hear about that part do you. The Copy is where I first kissed Alice, but not the first time she had kissed me. That happened when I was passed out somewhere near by. Which is why we are only near The Copy, isn't that right?'

Charlie nodded. Danny was putting all the pieces together for her. She was barely going to even need to say anything.

'So why is the first time Alice kissed me more important than the first time we both kissed?' Danny asked. Though he knew what she was trying to do, he was quite confused about how she was doing it.

She smiled. Pausing for just a short moment. 'Can't you see Dad. That was the first time that one of you admitted to the other that you were in love. She didn't know what was going to happen. She didn't know if she would be brave enough to do it when you were awake, but she took a chance and, and then made a decision that was hard either way, all so that she could do everything that she could to help you. She didn't have a gun. She had no idea where she was. She got lost in the bush on her own in the dark. And she did it because she loved you.'

Danny was stunned by what his daughter had said. She was right. Alice had taken many chances for him then, and many more since. Though everything had been rocky, she had still taken chances on him. But him. Had he been brave enough to take a chance on her? To do something he wasn't comfortable with and take a chance. He knew in his heart his answer was no.

'Alight Charlie. I get your point. But it is getting dark can we please go home now?' He asked.

She didn't say anything. Only got in the Jeep. She had said enough. And wouldn't say anymore for the rest of the ride home.

There was nothing but silence between them, and Charlie's hopes that what she had said had been enough.

[x]

Later that night, when everyone had gone to bed Danny walked into his room to see Alice standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair. She had her pyjamas on and her hair was wet, making a wet patch on her back. He smiled. It was time to take a chance.

He walked over to her, and took the brush from her hand, placing it on the table beside him. He turned her around and looked into her eyes. 'Don't say anything, just follow me.' He whispered.

She wasn't going to argue. She followed him out to the front steps of Leopards Den. He stopped her at the top of the steps and he stepped onto the next one down. The night was beautiful, the silence between them just a little bit awkward. He let it linger for just a moment before he spoke.

'Before I speak, I just want you to hear me out. I had to go get Charlie from near The Copy today. And do you know what she told me? She told me the story of how we first kissed, but she told me the part before that we always forget where you kissed me first. She thought she had it. The first time one of us admitted to the other that we both loved each other. But she had it all wrong I think.'

Alice looked confused. After a pause she spoke. 'Danny, you have me confused.'

He smiled at her. 'It all happened here. It was after Dup had left for England to be with Caroline, not that long after you first came to Leopards Den. We were standing on the steps and we almost kissed. Almost because Vanessa interrupted us. Remember?'

She nodded. A small smile crept to her lips. She stared into his eyes and smiled. It was beginning to feel how it used to feel. The magic was coming back. She could see her reflection in his eyes and feel his sincerity. Somehow for the first time in a while she felt a reassurance that everything would be alright.

'Well, there is no one here to interrupt us now.' he said before he kissed her under the clear African Sky.

'You have taken lots of chances on me, and I need to take more on you. So Alice Trevanion, will you take that chance with me. For better or for worse. Because I want this to work, no matter what it takes.' He said, and she nodded, wrapping her arms around him in a big hug.

[x]

Charlie smiled from behind the curtain in the study. 'Mission Accomplished Dup.' was all she said, before she ran back to bed.

[x]

And Finish :) Hope you liked it. It's a little bit disjointed but I'm glad I did it.

Thanks for the Support and I hoped you liked it. Maybe there will be more from me soon. But I don't think I could write a proper story, but One-Shots are my thing I think. If you want to leave any Ideas then feel free. Because I have no idea where to go now.

So that was a really long way of saying THANKS


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